Monday, July 7, 2008

Back in April 2008, a clothing store sent me one of their sale promotions. A plastic bag you can stuff with clothes and get a discount.

I didn't go to the sale, but I kept the bag. A good sturdy bag. One that can stand a little stuffing and stretching.

We use this plastic bag for our mail recycling. I open the mail, put what I don't need into the bag, then empty the contents into a paper bag in the basement for recycling later.

Here is the challenge I pose to myself: How many times can I reuse this humble plastic bag before it heads off to the landfill?

I used to put plastic bags, along with mail, into the recycling. I then realized...I should reuse this! It's not dirty, it has no holes. Besides, I don't think the city appreciates plastic bags along with the recyclable paper.

I've reused this bag 4 times now (note the tick marks in the photo). I'll update the blog with results of my plastic bag challenge. Want to join me in this challenge? Feel free to send your comments on your progress.

if you feel real creative, here's one solution to too many plastic bags. just google 'plastic bag rugs' for directions to weave or crochet rugs! or, google 'uses for plastic bags'--there's a site that's entitled '61 uses for plastic bags.'

Theresa has made quite a few clothes bags for our weekly trip to the farmers market. We generally use whatever plastic bags we have for kitty litter. Although, one thing that we reuse are glass jars. We use them as dry food containers...

Something I enjoy reusing are my water bottles. Peter got me stainless steel water bottles for Mother's Day last year and I bought aluminum water bottles for the kids. These bottles have gotten a great deal of use and have eliminated my desire to ever buy bottled water again.

Now if only I could get into the habit of bringing my travel mug when I want to buy coffee when I'm out!

This may or may not be a little known fact, but many supermarkets that you get the plastic bags from, actually take them back for recycling. Cub has a bin full of them somewhere near the entrance of the store where the shopping carts are. They are then recycled, and not put in a landfill. So start saving them, and return them on your next shopping trip!

This is Me

About

Welcome to "Striving Green", the blog that focuses on one family's attempt to become more environmentally friendly by the standbys - eating organically, keeping it local, reusing, reducing, and recycling. I call this blog "Striving Green", with an emphasis on the "striving". We're not perfect; we're learning as we go along.

I'll tell about the "green" successes and challenges we have with day-to-day issues as well as new discoveries I stumble upon. I'll pose questions to readers, looking for your thoughts and suggestions on how to improve upon reducing our consumption of resources. Sharing information and "making ripples" is something I enjoy. I hope you enjoy reading and become inspired to "strive green" too.